Does anyone know if there is a way to select the air recirculation option from the air intake button with the A/C turned off? Everytime I selected the air recirculation option, the A/C was automatically turned on. I tried to turn off the A/C, but the air recirculation was switched to the air intake option. I used to own an Acura and I was able to select air circulation option with the A/C turned off. My concern is in the winter when I don't want cold air coming in while the heat is on.

Is this how the Infiniti EX35 is designed or is it just my car that has this problem?

Thank you.

I'm pretty sure this is how Infiniti sets it up. I personally find it a pet peeve when the HVAC system FORCES you to do certain combinations (i.e. recirculate and airconditioning at the same time) etc.

I think for heat, they force you to use outside air as recirculating inside air might make the air too dry.

On the other hand, have you ever had a car (once up to temperature) blow cold air when the heat was on? I haven't. You can always get blazing hot air even when taking in outside air.

They probably allow recirculating of air for A/C because A/C has to work a lot harder to cool air vs heating air where it simply uses engine heat (which is abundant).

- KJ

KJ, thanks for the answer. To answer your question, yes my old Acura blew cold air once up the temperature. However, this happened only when the temperature outside was not very cold like in the 50 or 60. However, when the temperature outside got real cold like in the winter, my car did not blow cold air even when the temperature inside the car was up.

On my mazda when you want to circulate hot air (winter time) it allows warm air in from the engine bay, don't know where exactly. Downside is when its early in the morning it takes a while for the engine to warm up so I leave everything off and inside air only until it warms up and I allow warm air in.

It's the way Infiniti's are set up. Same with Nissans. The Murano I had before my EX was the same way.

I believe the main reason they do this is if you have re-circulated air on (especially if it's cool or damp outside) then the inside air that you're breathing in and out gets damp, so without a/c on (which removes moisture from air) the air inside the car would get more and more moist, and would steam up the windows.

Also if you press the front defogger button it automatically turns the a/c on to ensure it's blowing only dry air onto the front screen.

aft981 wrote:It's the way Infiniti's are set up. Same with Nissans. The Murano I had before my EX was the same way.

I believe the main reason they do this is if you have re-circulated air on (especially if it's cool or damp outside) then the inside air that you're breathing in and out gets damp, so without a/c on (which removes moisture from air) the air inside the car would get more and more moist, and would steam up the windows.

Also if you press the front defogger button it automatically turns the a/c on to ensure it's blowing only dry air onto the front screen.

Yup, agreed, it's a safety thing...prevents your windows from getting fogged up. The AC condenser removes that moisture and puts it OUTSIDE of your EX. Other car brands do this as well.